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Many thought this would be one of their first moves in free agency.
Talking about signing a cornerback.
Free agency is a little over a week old, and the Jets have added the following players on defense: DE Carl Lawson, DE Vinny Curry, DT Sheldon Rankins, LB Jarrad Davis, LB Del’Shawn Phillips and S LaMarcus Joyner.
But no corners.
I know a lot of fans are up-in-arms about this.
Not that Joe Douglas should govern by public opinion polls. That is never a good idea for a GM, but I can understand the fans surprise at no corners so far.
But I have to admit, when I was preparing the free agent preview issue of Jets Confidential Magazine last month, and was doing a deep dive on the FA corners, I was somewhat underwhelmed.
And some of the corners who got big money in free agency, like William Jackson, Shag Griffin, Adoree Jackson and Ronald Darby, personally, if I were a GM, I wouldn’t have dished out the kind of money each got.
These are good, not great corners. Jackson got three years, $40.5 million, with $26 million guaranteed. Here is some of what I wrote about him in the free agency issue:
“His best season was in 2017 with 14 PD’s and a pick, but has been a little up and down since. Jackson has world-class speed running under 4.4. He’s had a couple of season-ending injuries – 2016 (pec) and 2019 (shoulder).”
Once again, good player, but not sure I’m giving him that contract.
Griffin got three years, $40 million with $29 million guaranteed from Jacksonville.
Not sure I’m going there either.
Once again, good player, but not great.
Jackson got three years, $39 million, with $26.5 million guaranteed from the Giants. He only played 14 games this last two seasons due to injuries, including just three games last year. He’s only 185 pounds. Perhaps a little undersized, which might impact his durability.
These teams are probably overpaying for corners because there is such a shortage of good ones.
But you could make a strong argument Douglas did the right thing not going there.
The last two corners the Jets paid big bucks in free agency, Trumaine Johnson and Darrelle Revis (his last stint with the Jets), didn’t play very well for Gang Green, and you could make a strong argument both were significantly overpaid.
Quite honestly, very few big money free agent corners ever live up to the money, like Nmadi Asomugha in Philly. A few do like Stephon Gilmore in New England, but most don’t.
And if a cornerback is really, really good, why on earth would a team allow him to hit the street?
So while the Jets have a big need a cornerback, Douglas wasn’t going to break the bank on mediocrity. He’d rather wait to the draft, and I wouldn’t be shocked if two picks in the first three rounds are corners.
Now the Jets will eventually sign a corner or two in free agency, but they weren’t going to get involved in profligate spending on good, not great.
Clearly they like Bryce Hall a lot and he will likely start on one side.
So they probably need to find somebody to start on the other side opposite him. Bless Austin has potential, but must show he can transition better with receivers when they change direction.
They could still bring back Brian Poole to man the slot.
However, I totally get why the Jets didn’t throw big money at any of these corners.
That is an ill-conceived concept that came back to bite prior regimes.
March 25, 2021
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